CFD simulation of 3-dimensional motion of a ship in waves: application to an advancing ship in regular heading waves

A new computational fluid dynamics simulation method has been developed for the unsteady motion of a ship advancing in waves. The objective is to evaluate the added resistance and predict the performance of a ship in waves. In this study, a finite volume method, in the framework of a boundary-fitted grid system, is employed. The motion of the ship is solved with six degrees of freedom by using the hydrodynamic forces and moments obtained from the solution of the simulation method. The marker–density–function method is employed to calculate the nonlinear free surface. This method is applied to the coupled motion problem of heaving and pitching. Received for publication on Nov. 15, 1999; accepted on Nov. 18, 1999